In 1958, Wilson and Bob Bogle met
Nokie Edwards and they invited him to be a member of the group. Originally Edwards played bass, but later played lead guitar with Bogle switching to bass. In 1960, Wilson's mother, Josie, encouraged them to record a cover of
Chet Atkins' instrumental version of Johnny Smith's composition "
Walk, Don't Run". Unable to play his finger-style version, they re-arranged it in their own style. The lineup at the time consisted of Wilson, Bogle, Edwards and Skip Moore, later replaced by Howie Johnson (drums), before Johnson was replaced with
Mel Taylor, however on "Walk-Dont Run" and the B side "Home", Skip Moore,a local drummer played drums. "Walk, Don't Run" reached number two on the
Billboard Hot 100, and has been described as what "started a whole new movement in rock & roll" by
John Fogerty. The Ventures' song "Wild Child" was sampled by
the Wiseguys on "
Start the Commotion", giving Wilson his only hit writing credit on the British charts, reaching number 47 and spending 2 weeks on the chart. In 1968, they released a single titled "
Hawaii Five-O" and is now known as the theme tune to the
show of the same name. Some of the group's other notable songs include "
Wipe Out" and "
Pipeline", although they were cover songs originally written and recorded by
The Surfaris and
The Chantays. respectively. Wilson continued to tour with the Ventures until 2015, when he retired. Since then the band has continued to perform without any original members. Wilson was present when the Ventures were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. The Ventures have since released over 250 studio albums, 150 singles and 80 compilation albums, and have left a large impact on instrumental music.
Eddie Van Halen is among one of many musicians who have been influenced by the band; with Halen quoting their song
Pipeline to have been one of the first songs he learned how to play on the guitar. Wilson's rhythmic, aggressive guitar style earned him the title 'Mr Tiki-tiki' in Japan and Ventures concerts always featured two Wilson vocals, but his efforts as a solo artist did not succeed in emulating the success of The Ventures. == Personal life and death ==